In an intervention that is unlikely to bother the White House, the United Nations Human Rights chief has condemned the Trump administration’s strikes against drug cartels in the Caribbean Sea.
Volker Türk, a lawyer and career bureaucrat who has served as High Commissioner for Human Rights since 2022, demanded an immediate investigation into the recent strikes.
“These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,” said his spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, at a briefing on Friday.
“The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
She added that “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”
Airstrikes by the USA on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, allegedly linked to drug trafficking, violate international human rights law and are unacceptable.
— Volker Türk (@volker_turk) October 31, 2025
His comments come as the U.S. continues to strike vessels in international waters believed to be operated by international drug cartels, often at the behest of Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime in Venezuela.
Just this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that four people had been killed during a strike against drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
“This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” he wrote on the X platform.
“Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel—and killed—during the strike, which was conducted in international waters,” he continued. “No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.”
“The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans.”
“The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate.”
Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific.
This vessel, like all the others, was known by our… pic.twitter.com/mBOLA5RYQe
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) October 29, 2025
On Friday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration had “identified targets in Venezuela that include military facilities used to smuggle drugs” and was preparing to launch attacks imminently.
However, these reports were later played down by the White House, with spokeswoman Anna Kelly insisting that “any announcements regarding Venezuela policy would come directly from the President.”
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